The service transcript is below:
JOHN
12:12-19
12 The
next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem.13 They
took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;see, your king is coming,seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 At first His disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about Him and that these things had been done to Him.
17 Now the crowd that was with Him when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised Him from the dead continued to spread the word.18 Many people, because they had heard that He had performed this sign, went out to meet Him.19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!”
John 12:12-19 LISTEN TO THE CROWD
PALM SUNDAY Springford: March 28, 2021.
Have you noticed how quickly news travels?
Sometimes we are surprised, aren’t we?
At this time that we read about in Scripture, there were not of course the modern means of communication that we have today. Now, almost immediately when someone has said or done something it is being reported on the news with photos and background information. With cell phones so common, individuals will often take out their phones and use them to snap pictures of all sorts of events both planned and unexpected. They will then send out details to their friends on Facebook or Twitter who in turn pass it on.
There is for us, an even greater capacity for spreading news, but it still begins with listening and witnessing something and then considering it important enough to share with others.
We do not spread the news of every detail of our lives, just the ones we consider significant and of interest to someone else.
The more important we consider a piece of news, the more eager we will be to share it and the wider the number of people we will be determined to tell about it.
This was certainly the case in that detail provided in vs. 17, “Now the crowd that was with Him when He called Lazarus from the dead continued to spread the word.”
The people who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast had been hearing about Jesus. The word of His miracles was noteworthy news that had been spreading all around the region.
(John 12:1) Many of this great crowd of pilgrims that had come up from the country would have seen and heard Jesus in Galilee and they welcomed this opportunity to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.
We can be sure that even those who had not already seen Him and heard Him in person, had heard about Jesus.
The most recent miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead had confirmed for some that Jesus had to be the Promised Messiah. How else could they explain such an incredible miracle?
The response of the crowd to Jesus was spontaneous. They did want to give him a special welcome and they did want to publicly declare who He is, “the One who comes in the name of the Lord, the (promised) King of Israel.” (vs. 13)
Even when officials try to control a crowd, it is virtually impossible. A large group of people will respond as they choose. They will shout out what they believe to be true.
This is what was happening here.
I am reminded that in a similar way, we need to be courageous in declaring who we believe Jesus to be. The time in which we live is not a time to be timid about our faith in Jesus. It is not a time to concern ourselves with what others think or what might be considered generally acceptable.
If we have listened for God and if we believe that Jesus is God’s Son, then we have no reason to be reluctant or to remain silent in voicing this.
We are told that at first Jesus’ disciples did not understand the significance of all that was taking place (vs. 16). It was after Jesus’ resurrection that they were able to look back and see what all this had meant.
We as Christians today are
blessed.
We are able to read about these historical events and to
understand what they meant on this side of the cross.
We have the
Biblical record of eyewitnesses, who saw the miracles of Jesus and
who did spread the word. We have the firsthand reports of those who
saw him die on the cross and then be raised to life 3 days later and
appear to His disciples.
We know, don’t we, that
not all news is accurate or true. That is why we need to listen
carefully to determine what is true.
There are ways of verifying
the authenticity of various events.
In the case of the spreading
of the word about Jesus that is spoken of here, there is the
verification of several people who personally saw Jesus raise Lazarus
from the dead.
They continued to spread the word about this miraculous event because it was so unbelievable and yet possible for it to be true because God had come to live among His people in the person of Jesus.
It was the persistent spreading of the word about Jesus that caused such frustration amongst the religious leaders, the Pharisees.
Don’t you wonder why they were so resistant to the truth? They believed in the existence of God and they believed that God had promised to send a Saviour, but when He did, they absolutely refused to accept Jesus.
Perhaps some of their difficulty was that they could not control Jesus. He did not operate according to their agenda. Jesus was carefully following the will of His Father.
When we are trying to spread the word about Jesus today, believing that this is news people desperately need to hear, we too may meet with resistance. For various reasons there will be people who will either want to put off thinking about faith issues or they will be reluctant to accept that it is true.
Perhaps people will be so focused on their agenda, what they want to do, that they will not be open to hear the news of Jesus.
But hear this! We must spread the word about Jesus because there are some people who will respond and accept Him.
It is not our responsibility how people will respond, but it is our responsibility to spread the word, the news of how we have experienced Jesus.
Spreading the word is the natural result of what we have come to know about Jesus, as a result of our own experiences.
It is being so taken with what Jesus has done in showing Himself to us that we cannot help but speak about it.
The crowd that we listen to this Palm Sunday, could not be silenced as they welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. And they could not be silenced afterwards, as they continued to spread the word. They were not engaging in lengthy theological discussions and debates. They were just telling what they knew to be true.
And what happened? Many people went out to meet Him for themselves. More and more people came to believe in Jesus.
In fact, the Pharisees could see that this whole situation was far beyond their control. “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him”! (vs. 19)
This is what will happen today as we faithfully continue to spread the word about Jesus.
As we have listened to this crowd confirm who Jesus is, who will there be who will listen to us confirm who we know Jesus to be?
Who can you tell about Jesus and what He has done for you?